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Health & Fitness

How Not to Sell

Belligerance and insults are ineffective tools for converting a no to yes.

This blog is about ways not to sell to me. 

Like any small business owner, I have received many solicitations to advertise – in print, online, in directories, on television or radio and by direct mail. I recognize the importance of promoting my business, but my advertising budget is tiny, so I have to say no more often than yes.

A caller wanted me to upgrade my online directory listing to a display ad, which would have required committing to high monthly charges for a year or more. The number of new clients that would have been required to pay for the display ad far exceeded the number my business was likely to see, so I said no.

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The advertising representative insisted that I tell her how I was promoting my business and said my plan wouldn’t work and angrily told me my business was certain to fail unless I used her company’s high priced display ad.

“At this point our conversation can go two ways,” I calmly told her. “You can thank me for my time and offer to call back in six months to a year, or I can hang up on you.”

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“Certainly you could hang up on me,” she replied, “but …”

I don’t know what she said after that.

More recently, another caller asked me to advertise in the program for an event at a local high school. Thanks for the opportunity, but no thanks. Our conversation ended amicably.

The following day, someone called me again about the same event. I told the caller I already had been contacted about promoting this activity but wasn’t interested.

He said, “No, you weren’t, because I’m the only one selling advertising for this.”

Really? How does calling me a liar help him make the sale?

I assured him that indeed I had been contacted, thanked him for the opportunity and said I wasn’t interested.

“Good, because we aren’t interested in you,” he said.

If he felt he had to have the last word, too bad.

Griping about his rudeness in this blog makes the last word mine..

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